3 Steps to Becoming a Great Business Leader

Author

Millennial Procurement 

An influential Leader will know how to motivate and guide their team to success. Teams thrive on being led by authoritative and inspiring influencers, but how can you ensure that you are providing this level of leadership yourself? And what does leadership actually entail anyway?

The definition of leadership is:

"The act of leading and motivating a group of people, or an organisation, to reach a common goal."

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​With this is mind, here are my 3 Steps to Becoming a Great Business Leader.

Step One - Comparing Good Leadership with Bad Management

If you are a manager you may ask "what are the similarities between a manager and a leader?" Ultimately these titles will refer to the same person. Managers should be leaders. Managers should show good leadership qualities. Managers have overall authority but they should also lead a team to group success.

But then what can make managers and leaders so different?

Ideally a manager will also be a leader. You may find you are a manager without leadership qualities, or in the worst case scenario (often defined by your team) you could be a bad manager full stop. Bad management styles and bad manager traits do not make for good leaders.

To understand what makes a great leader, team leader, and how to learn great leadership skills, it is necessary to compare what makes someone a good leader; and more importantly, what makes a bad manager.

To make this assessment it is helpful to compare the management characteristics of good leaders versus bad managers.
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Good Leaders are

• Calm and rational
• Clear communicators
• Supportive and appreciative
• Respectful to their staff
• Trusting and giving in opportunities and challenges

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Bad Managers are

• ​Micromanagers
• Emotionally charged
• Closed to staff suggestions
• Fault finders (and they blame easily)
• Consumed with their own success

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The differences are clear. A leader works for their team and a bad manager has only their own interests at heart. Leadership can come naturally, but for most it is a learned skill. Leadership is mostly taught from working with a strong influential manager or mentor during your career and adopting their skills as your own.
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Step Two - Motivating Your Team to Group Success
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​It is essential to maintain a motivated team under your leadership. What makes an effective team? It will start with a leader with good management and motivational skills. Being a leader is all about aligning your goals with those of your team and making sure that you are all working on the same page.

The best place to start with motivating your team is with open ears. Listen to your team, take their suggestions seriously and find out what everyone's personal strengths and weaknesses are. Ensure that everyone is placed on the right task to suit their strengths and make sure that they have a structure to their work. Set goals and targets which will stretch capabilities to enable personal growth.

Working along these lines will not only be beneficial to your team. Imagine overseeing a team who are energised, willing to produce their best work not only for their own achievement, but making the project's success their primary goal. As a leader there should be no greater satisfaction than managing a team to group success.
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Step Three - A Common Goal: Working in Harmony
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A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way - John C. Maxwell

How can you lead a team to success? Let's first look at the great leadership qualities that your team are looking for in an influential leader.

​What are the characteristics of a good team leader and what makes a successful team?
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Team members should, and deserve, to be managed by a leader who
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• Acts appropriately and in accordance with their role
• Has skills and knowledge they admire
• Has comparable goals with their team
• Shows positive personality traits such as humour, loyalty and sensitivity
• Recognises and rewards good work
• Dissolves negativity immediately

A company appoints a manager because they have skills, experience and knowledge which have validated their position. Likewise, a good manager should also recognise the qualities of a successful team, and an up-and-coming talent, and make it their priority to ensure that this person progresses within the company. A good leader should ask themselves "how can I motivate my team, myself, my staff and the people around me?"

If you follow the advice in these 3 Steps to Becoming a Great Business Leader you will find that you lead a team who want to work for YOU. Both parties will have each other's best interests in mind as a priority. There is something about working in harmony that makes for a very successful team. Under the right influence and a strong leader the only inevitable outcome will be team success.

At Millennial Procurement we offer professional Procurement services for all Businesses, non-profit organisations and SME's. For more Millennial Manager insights please visit the Millennial Procurement website.